Habitat - Outdoor :: Just got the outdoor pond built ***edit*** PCITURE HEAVY

[brandonsdad02]

We had been talking for a while on making a pond outside for the turtles. Well this weekend we finally got it done. We went out and bought a 14' x 14' pond liner and got to digging. It took us all day saturday to dig the hole and get the water fall going. Its about 3' deep and and around 11' long and 10' wide. We made the depths vary in the pond with ledges here and there with a island in the middle with a spot for them to bask. It will have plenty of sun during the day with a huge shade maple tree over hanging the pond. Plan on putting some landscape lights around the pond and a few underwater lights. What temp should the water be before we are able to put our RES in the pond. We are hoping to let them stay out there year round but only if they will make it thru the winter. We live in the mid west here in the states. Here are a few pictures for now.

[Linus]

Very nice, but you might want to Predator Proof it.

[steve]

I'd want the water to be in the 70's before putting them in there. Are they still hatchlings?

[SINI5T3R]

What is the big H for on that rock? You should put lots of gold fish and minnows in there

[brandonsdad02]

The big H was in front of our house by the end of the driveway. Its for my last name. We are working on getting the filter built and installed. Going with the Skippy filter. Our turts are a little over 1 year old. We are planning on putting rosey reds, gold fish and koi in there along with the turts.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Question are you going to fence in around the pond? Turtle are better climbers then you think.

[SINI5T3R]

Question are you going to fence in around the pond? Turtle are better climbers then you think.

So true, When I had my snappers my male escaped like 3 times a day till i could move him. He would always go under the car...nothing scarryr then a snapping turtle that is like 3 foot wide trying to get ya away from it stuck under a car...

[brandonsdad02]

Well we have made many changes to the pond. We took out the pre formed water fall and added our own with pond liner and lined it with stones and have it all lit up with lights. Planted lots of flowers, a Japanese Maple and some creeping moss for around the pond, added a skimmer and underwater lights. We did have one escape last week and found it tonight. It was behind the berm that we made for the water fall under a bucket. She was covered in mud. Our guess is that she got too cold and was trying to dig in the dirt to get warm. Solved that problem by putting up a fence around the pond and added a fake awl for the fish that keep disappering. We have a open field behind our house and we have seen a fox back there on a daily basis. I'm going call the DNR and see if there is anything that can be done to get the fox out of there, like maybe a live trap or something. Don't want to kill the poor thing, just maybe relocate it to the country. I will take some pictures and upload them tomorrow.

[steve]

Looking forward to it!

[SINI5T3R]

Does the Fox do this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8xJtH6UcQY

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[brandonsdad02]

Well here it goes.
We have always wanted a outdoor pond so we started with this. We dug this pre formed liner in on Easter weekend.


I really didn't like it so we went with the pictures above at the top of the thread. We tried to let it grow on us but I still wasn't happy with it so this is what we ended up with. WARNING---------Picture heavy!!!!

This is the pretty much finished product. All of this was hand dug with one shovel. ME! Took a day to dig the small preformed liner, and another day to widen the hole to the big one. Hope you enjoy!!




After doing a bunch of research, I decided to do the Skippy Filter. Works wonders.





One of our very pregnant Koi

Mr Frog who makes sure that no one runs in the pool area


There basking area and some other goodies that they can eat if they get the urge.



Threw in some flower pots for them to hid in or do whatever






Quincy the awl. He makes sure nothing gets too crazy at night.


This is Mr. Boss. He is shy and skittish.




Here we have our Lime Ear slider Kate. She was trying to hide, but it didn't work so well for her.




Going in for a swim.


Last we have our escape artist. Charlie. She is slick lady that likes to get muddy.




So this is our pond. Its about 10 feet wide, 11 feet long and 3 feet deep right by the water fall.

I have landscape lighting all around it and 6 underwater led lights that make it look amazing at night. It took a lot of time and effort to get it done, but we are so very please about it. Craigslist has been our friend for all of it. Got some rock off there and our never used skimmer box for $20. Yes you read that right, a brand new never used with all the hardware and plates skimmer box. Its a Savio off brand but it works great.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Looks Awesome! Very Lucky Turtle

[Linus]

HAPPY TURTLES!

[steve]

Nice pics, good job!

[Linus]

Some parrots feather would look great!